WASHINGTON — Freedom House’s Washington-based Center for Religious Freedom is calling on the U.S. government to pressure Pakistan into repealing its blasphemy laws, which the group calls “state-sponsored terror.”
The center pointed to the case of Yousaf Masih, 60, a Pakistani Christian who was arrested June 28 for allegedly desecrating the Quran, a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence because it’s considered blasphemy.
Masih’s life could be in jeopardy, according to the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, a human rights group based in Pakistan.
Approximately 80 Christians are imprisoned under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, and 650 people have been arrested under the laws since 1988, according to the Vatican’s Zenit news service.
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